Automatic Negative Thinking

I have this problem with negative thinking. Does anyone have good methods to overcome or control them? Do they diminish as one progresses through meditation? Thanks!!

-Sonny

 

What's so negative about the way you think?

 

I am here to help

Think positively. Oh yeah

 

You should read the book "Change Your Brain, Change Your Life" ny Daniel G. Amen M.D.
You have to "kill" the ANTs (Automatic Negative Thoughts)
When a negative thought comes into your mind debate it and exterminate it.
Try to think positively... it will be hard at first but you'll get used to it and soon it will be easy.
Your problem is that you have trained yourself to respond to events negatively, now you have to re-train yourself to encourage more positive thinking.

 

Thank you I need to work on that. You are right I have trained myself to respond negatively. There are times when I would change them into a positive thought, and sometimes work. I just need to be positive more often. I have this social anxiety that can creep up like a monster. Thats what got me into meditation. I thank everyone for their comments, it really helps!!

-Sonny

 

Just let em be negative, just let them be. Your only task is to let your body relax and heal itself.

If you can, try to feel your thought without classifying them into negative vs positive, just feel your thoughts as they are.

 

Thanks for the comment. I agree with what you said. I'm finding out that exact thing. Just like our body starts healing naturally, right after we get a cut or break a bone. It works the same with emotions, the problem comes when we start picking at it, like picking at a scab. Thanks again.

-Sonny

 

You're welcome I just like to help people cause I have the same problem sometimes. I don't really have social anxiety too bad, just other shit that keeps me occupied. ha.
I hope it all works out for you

 

Perhaps another book worth reading is "The Dance between joy and pain - Mansukh Patel and Rita Goswami"
Positive thoughts and negative thoughts are the dance between pleasure and pain.

 

just observe all thoughts, detached from them, from the point of view of your heart

 

Just like everything else, it is a matter of practice.

At the moment, when you have a negative thought, you let it run its course, which in all likelyhood begins a spiral downward.

You don't want to try to debate your negative thoughts, especially if you are a depressive person, more often then not, you will lose the debate and make it worse.

When a negative thought pops into your head, counter it with a positive thought...

As in, you ask someone out, and they say no, and you start talking shit to yourself because of it, stop and think about something that is good in your life... no matter how small, as long as it brings a smile to your face... "Shit, she shot me down, but that's okay, I found 1/8th of weed in the couch that I thought I lost months ago..."

Even if your mind keeps trying to go back to the negative thought process (it likely will), you just keep offering up good thoughts (that are unrelated to the negative one)...

If you do this consistently, you will train your mind to not focus on the negative shit...

If you need a 'program' to follow to do it, do it on a ten day basis... your goal is to have 10 days without a negative thought... The ten days starts as of the last negative thought you had and resets everytime you have one...

Also, keep in mind that your outward attitude can effect your emotions, just as much as your emotions can effect your attitude... In otherwords, being happy can make you smile, and smiling can make you happy...

 

Sonny,

What kind of meditation are you practicing? Some kinds work better for certain circumstances, people, and problems.

 

Truly the best way to overcome negative emotions is to realize that they are just emotions. Neither positive, negative, or neutral, just Energy in Motion e-motions. They don't have to control you, we just learn to let them. They are a signal from your body giving you information. As you progress through the stages of meditation you'll begin to see the emotions forming before they've taken over your consciousness, then choose whether or not to indulge in them. Keep up the good work!
Be Well

 

^^^Very well said, in my opinion

 

You have old neural pathways that are negative and since starting your journey to mental health or enlightenment, new ones that are positive. The predominant pathways are always the ones you use the most. Like any muscle in the body, the more you use it, the larger it grows. The reverse is also true; if you don't use it, you loose it. The key is to shrink the negative pathways and to grow the positive ones. The only way to do this is by using the positive pathways and ignore the negative pathways.

 

Negative thinking is not automatic but it does have the weight of inertia or habit behind it.

 

I would rather not have this task of perpetual arbitration. I have told myself, If we knew what was good for us we would not be bad mouthing the world. It helps me to realize that negative expressions serve no function, are ineffective in achieving what I want.
I agree that the sooner you realize that the inner debate is useless the better.

 

I have this book. Not much into self help or motivational books but I read a little and seemed to have some fairly interesting positive psychology stuff, maybe I'll pick it up again.

 

Negative expressions do serve a function. They have the capacity to do bad. What we need to do is reject the path of bad and move towards the direction of good. They do serve in achieving what you want by showing you the path you do not want.

 

What is bad?